Establishing rapport with more and more

This year I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned my class sizes would be smaller. So instead of 180 students, I have 155; that's progress, right? So one significant dilemma is how to establish a rapport with so many students in a relatively short amount of time, so they respect you and the learning environment.
One new activity I implemented this year was a student survey, which included more than just questions about students' past experiences with reading and writing. This year, I asked them about their lives and if they had any questions for me. If they asked me a question, I wrote a note back responding to their question. If they didn't ask one, I commented on something else they wrote and tried to make a personal connection.
Eight weeks in, I feel I know my students better and have had fewer behavior problems compared to last year. Yes, it was a lot of working writing that many notes, but the payoff was worth it. Case in point- one student who rolled her eyes at my jokes for 3 straight days at the start of the year changed her attitude shortly after receiving my note back. In my note, I told her that when I was her age, my parents split up, just like her, and as a result, I didn't get to see my father very often either. She wrote me a note back and thanked me for letting her know because she felt like the only one who had to go through that. Those hours I spent in August are paying dividends now!